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About this project

We are seeking funds to develop a virtual student environment for the simCEO simulation (www.simceo.org)

Overview of simCEO

with links to national standards in: Economics, Entrepreneurship, Personal Finance, Business

SimCEO is the only dynamic simulation played entirely online in which a group of students, over a fictional 10-year period:

Each CREATE a company

RESEARCH each others' companies online

TRADE: Manage a portfolio starting at $10,000 by buying and selling shares in each others' companies which immediately change share prices.

All of this takes place in a customized environment (place, time, duration of simulation, complexity) that is set by the teacher who can also integrate content by sharing dynamic news (real of fictional) with users, encouraging users to make adjustments along the way.

Participants "win" in one of two ways:

To be a successful entrepreneur by creating a business that ends with the highest share price

To be a savvy investor by ending with the largest portfolio value

What do teachers think?

"Truly unique! My students loved it. I loved the flexibility. I integrated content from India's colonial period. More than engaged, I could hardly hold my students back. They applied content and had fun. I'll pass this on to other teachers." Matt Baughman - Michigan

"I am highly impressed. Of the online interactive educational experiences that I rank at the top (KhanAcademy, Brainpop, Mathforum's "Ask Dr. Math" , etc) -I rank this alongside those as the best online experience for kids."

Shelby Bryant, Dakar, Senegal

"[the students are] psyched about this. I even have had enquiries from students who aren't in either of my high-school classes ask to play. There was enough "buzz" from last May that students remember and are interested!"

Melanie Mallinson Cape Town, South Africa

Screenshots of the current version

Student simHome page (partial view)

The teacher can share News Articles on the right. Or, the teacher can create news articles, share links, or information and messages on the left.

Students create their business by completing these assignments

(In this example, the teacher only selected 7 "assignments" for students to complete. The teacher can choose assignments - from pre-created assignments - or create customized assignments.

Market Overview shows current share prices

Student Portfolio page (partial view)

A short video showing how students buy/sell shares and the immediate price effects.

Project Overview and Description

The desire for this re-design has come from teachers and students. The simulation represents a very engaging (and unique) way to learn, but the design of the site is fairly text-heavy and outdated. We know that the new design will not only make the simulation more enticing and attractive, but it will immerse the students into the environment, allowing them to better experience all of the tools, resources, and people that CEOs and personal investors regularly interact with in order to be successful.

Specifically, we are completely re-designing the student home page to make a virtual environment with a student avatar (the user) seated at a board room table who will interact with other avatars. All of the current functions within the site, as well as new functions, will be re-designed in Flash and integrated into the new student home page.

All of the site's programming has been done very successfully with eQuality Solutions. We've had a great relationship with them for the past two years. We have a very rough draft (in MS Word) of the layout of the homepage (attached). Equality will share rough drafts of the design once the project begins, and the phases will consist of both design and programming functionality into the virtual environment.

To help ensure that the project is done efficiently and effectively, we have been fortunate to get the help of some experienced individuals. We have regular meetings during the course of 8 week project to ensure that the project stays on course and the final product is something of which we can all be proud.

Additionally, we want our contributors to stay appraised of the project and provide feedback. Check out our rewards for how you can contribute to the process.

If we are fortunate to exceed our goal, we have some exciting stretch goals to add even more to simCEO.

Stretch Goals

These are listed in a relative order of priority. Know that every dollar contributed will be put into the additional development of simCEO.

development of additional avatars to join or be hired for positions on the Board of Directors to provide advice to student-CEO

development of additional avatars who act as market analysts, sharing news reports on company, industry, or market-wide news stories

allow the addition of PDFs, .doc and jpg files to be uploaded to share more detailed business plan elements: logos, business cards, company prospectus, etc.

funding for regional, state, or national competitions with entrepreneurial or economic organizations

adding more diagnostics to measure the students investment portfolio choices relative to risk (as compared to the rest of the market).

the development of an optional interface and resources to allow student-CEOs to partner with community volunteers to assist them with decision-making.

Teacher training workshops

add the ability for student-users to “sell short”

interface to allow teacher-users to submit articles and environments for others to use

translations into other languages

the development of a TV news channel to be embedded within the simulation to deliver market news as well as stories and interviews with student CEOs.

adding quarterly earnings projections along with quarterly results

adding the development of LIVE conference calls between student-CEOs and the teacher or other teacher-selected individuals. These conference calls would be recorded and stored as additional research items for students to research companies.

Risks and challenges

There is a risk that the project will be over-budget or take longer in development than expected. We've had a very good working relationship with our programmers for the last two years - but this will be our first experience with developing virtual environment.

We've had many preliminary discussions with eQuality about this process, so we feel prepared.

Because this is our first time in developing a virtual environment, we are grateful to have already arranged the support of our Design Team to assist us along the way.

FAQ

Rewards

Pledge $1 or more

Every dollar helps to help bring this vision to reality for students. Thank you.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

You selected

Pledge $10 or more

0 backers

Access to the simCEO project development blog with progress updates and screenshots.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

You selected

Pledge $25 or more

4 backers

a free simCEO simulation - This can be shared with the teacher or school of your choice. Backers also have access to the development blog with progress updates and screenshots.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

You selected

Pledge $50 or more

4 backers

Access to project development blog, with enabled feedback option into the process. We want to know your idea and feedback as we develop! Plus, all the awards above.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

You selected

Pledge $100 or more

4 backers

All the awards above, plus: Your name, if you desire, to be a character referenced within the fictional news stories making up simCEO.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

You selected

Pledge $200 or more

1 backer

Your name, if you desire, to be listed under the heading of Friends and Contributors to simCEO page in simulation and on the development blog. Also, unlimited free simulations for one teacher for one year. Give a gift to an outstanding teacher you know! Plus, all the awards above.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

You selected

Pledge $500 or more

0 backers

All the awards above, plus: Unlimited free simulations for the teacher of your choice for two years. Give a gift to an outstanding teacher you know!

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

You selected

Pledge $1,000 or more

0 backers

All the awards above, plus: Unlimited free simulations for the school of your choice for two years.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

You selected

Pledge $5,000 or more

0 backers
Limited (5 left of 5)

All the awards above, plus:
Your name, if desired, to be one of the five main avatars within the simulation.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

Funding period

Nov 9, 2012 - Dec 9, 2012
(30 days)

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